A conversation between two colonels
by Glossina
Summary: The title says it all. It's just a conversation between two colonels.


**A conversation between colonels.**

**Robert Hogan sat in the bar, nursing a beer. He had returned to the United States six years before, after the liberation of stalag 13. But still, he was constantly on the watch when he went to bars. It was a hard habit to break. **

**It was this habbit that caused him to spot the other man across the crowded room even though he was trying to not be seen. Hogan picked up his beer and walked across the room, signaling the waitress to bring him another and also one for the man that he was headed to see.**

**Wilhelm Klink looked up when the other man sat down and his eyes widened. "Colonel Hogan?" he said in surprise.**

**"It's not colonel anymore, kommandant", Hogan said softly as he sat down. "It's just Robert now".**

**"And I am just Wilhelm now...Robert", Klink said, Hogan's first name sounding a little odd on his tongue.**

**Hogan smiled and sipped the last of his beer and then thanked the waitress when she brought two more up. He pushed one towards Klink and then lifted his own in salute to Klink. "How have things been going?" he asked.**

**Klink shrugged. "Things are well enough. I've emigrated to America as you can see. I'm working in a bank now".**

**Hogan smiled. "I'm still flying. I've got a small, private plane and I fly short trips for people".**

**Klink sipped at the beer that Hogan had bought him. "Do you stay in contact with your men?" he asked quietly.**

**Hogan nodded. "A little, yeah. Lebeau is back in Paris and he's opened up a restaurant. I guess Newkirk is there with him". Hogan chuckled. "I heard that Lebeau hired him as the entertainment".**

**Klink smiled with amusement, his blue eyes twinkling. It was then that Hogan noticed the glasses. "No monacle?" he asked in surprise.**

**Klink shook his head. "No...I...I realized after the liberation that I looked rather foolish in it". He gave a soft laugh then. "I was told that the glasses give me a dignified look. I think they meant that I look old in them".**

**Hogan chuckled in amusement. "I think we all look a little older", he smirked.**

**Klink smiled in appreciation and nodded. "Yes, we do", he admitted. Then he fixed Hogan with a curious look. "What about the rest of your men?"**

**Hogan sighed. "Baker and Olsen both went back to school but I'm not sure what's happened to them since then. Carter went to school for a while and got his pharmacy degree and then he bought out the man who had been his boss before the war so now he has his own pharmacy".**

**"That's good", Klink said happily. "I'm glad for them".**

**When Hogan grew thoughtful and quiet for a minute, Klink felt the need to prompt him a little. "And sergeant Kinchloe? What of him?"**

**"Kinch?" Hogan said. "He went back to Detroit and back to the phone company".**

**"The phone company?" Klink said in surprise.**

**Hogan nodded. "That's where he was working before the war. Only now, he's been made a supervisor. His boss told him that if he could survive doing time in the toughest P.O.W. camp in all of germany, then he's earned the right to be a supervisor".**

**Klink grew quiet then and stared glumly into his beer for a minute.**

**Hogan started to open his mouth but Klink cut him off. "You haven't asked me about my men", he said softly.**

**Hogan looked down guiltily. "I... I was going...".**

**Again, Klink cut him off. "Schultz went back to his toy company", he said with a soft smile. "He was there for four years. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack two years ago. He passed quietly in his sleep".**

**Hogan flinched and looked deeply into his beer. "I'm sorry", was all he could think to say.**

**Klink shook his head. "Don't be", he had a very happy four years before he died".**

**Hogan cleared his throat a couple times. "What about Langenscheidt?"**

**Now it was Klink who looked sad. "He died", he said simply.**

**Hogan gasped sharply and nearly dropped his beer. "What?" he choked out.**

**"It was right after the liberation", Klink explained. "They were transporting us to a french camp. The truck that he was riding in lost control on a patch of ice and crashed. Karl was the only one killed".**

**Hogan gave Klink a pained look. "I'm so, so sorry", he choked out. He shook his head. "Langenscheidt was a nice kid".**

**Klink smiled sadly. "Yes, he was".**

**They grew quiet for a few minutes as each man became lost in his own thoughts.**

**Finally, Hogan looked up from his beer. "Kommandant...Um... Wilhelm", he said softly. "I'm sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am".**

**"It wasn't your fault", Klink said kindly. "It was just an accident".**

**"That... that's not what I meant", Hogan said quietly. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. I've been thinking about that for a long time now".**

**"What you did to me?" Klink said in confusion. **

**"I... I ...", Hogan found that he couldn't get out what he had done. He couldn't admit to the tunnel system that had been under stalag 13. He couldn't admit to the radio that was in the tunnels or the fact that they had just come and gone as they wished, right under Klink's nose. Klink and Schultz and the rest of the guards and been removed from stalag 13 before they had had the chance to learn what was really going on.**

**Suddenly Klink laughed delightedly. "Are you talking about the tunnels, colonel... I mean, Robert? And perhaps the radio that I'm certain you had and heaven only knows what else?"**

**Hogan's jaw dropped. "I...I...I...", was all he could stammer out.**

**Klink looked amused and he put his beer down. Then he reached across the table and rested a hand on Hogan's wrist. "Robert, I knew all along. Well...", he ammended. "I knew most of it. There are some things that I'm not certain of. Although", he added. "I am certain that Schultz and probably Langenscheidt knew what was going on all that time".**

**Hogan was stunned as he continued to stare at Klink. "How can you sit there and treat me so kindly. Burkhalter and Hochstetter must have made your life hell after the liberation".**

**Klink had to laugh. "You don't know, do you?" he asked with amusement.**

**Hogan shook his head. "Know what?" he asked.**

**Klink looked even more amused. "When we went to the french camp, I was made a trustee of the prison and put in charge of some of the men. Burkhalter and Hochstetter were two of them".**

**Hogan stared at Klink for a full minute and then burst out laughing. "That is absolutely priceless", he laughed.**

**Klink grinned and then winked at Hogan. "You and I think so", he chuckled. "But I don't think they thought so".**

**Hogan grew quiet again and sipped at his beer some more. Finally, he looked up at Klink. "If you knew, why didn't you tell? Why didn't you say something to Burkhalter or Hochstetter? You could have made general. They wouldn't have been so hard on you".**

**Now it was Klink's turn to grow quiet. He stared deeply into his beer and played around with the beer glass for a while. He looked up at Hogan after a while and sighed softly. "Robert, I probably could have made general if I had exposed you. I might have had a very easy life untill the end of the war. But even if we had won the war, I would have done exactly what I did. I would not have changed a thing".**

**Hogan stared at Klink in shock. "Why?" he asked. "Why would you cover up for us?"**

**Klink leaned in close and put his hand back on Hogan's wrist. "Because it was the right thing to do".**

**Hogan swallowed several times and blinked his eyes a few times. Finally, he looked down at his hands which were wrapped around his beer glass. "I guess we know who the better man is", he said softly.**

**"Robert", Klink said gently. "Sometimes, there is no 'better man'. Sometimes we are just men, doing what we have to. Doing what is right".**

**Hogan looked up at Klink and smiled and raised his glass in salute. **

**Klink returned Hogan's smile and raised his own glass. **

**Hogan tapped his glass against Klink's. "To men doing what they have to", he said.**

**"To men, doing what they should, doing what is right", Klink replied.**

**The two men drank the rest of their beer and as they did, they began to talk again. Only this time, they weren't two old enemies trying to come to terms with one another. Now, they were two new friends, getting to know each other.**


End file.
